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By Nathan Layne
(Reuters) – An election employee in a western Michigan city has been charged with two felonies after allegedly inserting a flash drive into a pc containing confidential voter registration information throughout an election in August, native officers stated on Wednesday.
On the Aug. 2 major, an election employee was seen inserting a USB drive into the pc used to manage the election at a precinct in Gaines Township in Kent County, in keeping with an announcement by county clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons.
The incident highlights the so-called “insider risk” threat that has more and more apprehensive election officers, particularly in battleground states like Michigan the place falsehoods about systemic voter fraud within the 2020 election have unfold most generally.
“This incident is extraordinarily egregious and extremely alarming. Not solely is it a violation of Michigan legislation, however it’s a violation of public belief and of the oath all election staff are required to take,” Lyons stated within the assertion.
Chris Becker, the county’s prosecuting lawyer, stated he had charged the election employee, James Donald Holkeboer, with falsifying election data and utilizing a pc to commit a criminal offense. If convicted, he might resist 9 years in jail.
Holkeboer couldn’t be instantly reached for remark.
Whereas Lyons didn’t identify Holkeboer, she stated the incident concerned one of many “on a regular basis residents skilled and licensed by clerks to work the precincts and absentee county boards” and was not an worker of the county or Gaines Township.
The election employee was seen by a witness at a precinct in Gaines Township inserting a USB drive into the Digital Ballot E book, the pc used to manage the election. The ballot e-book incorporates voter registration information, together with confidential data barred from launch underneath Michigan legal guidelines.
Lyons stated the breach didn’t impression the result of the August major because it occurred after the information had already been saved to the precinct’s encrypted system. She stated the ballot e-book just isn’t related to any tabulation tools or the web.
There have been a collection of safety breaches associated to voting tools in Michigan following the 2020 presidential election, with supporters of former President Donald Trump and his baseless claims about widespread voter fraud searching for entry to tabulators in numerous places within the state.
Final month, Lawyer Common Dana Nessel, a Democrat, appointed a particular prosecutor to supervise the felony investigation her workplace had kicked off into the safety breaches. She sought to step again from the probe as a result of her Republican challenger in November’s election, Matt DePerno, was among the many 9 people dealing with potential costs.
A spokesperson for Michigan’s Secretary of State stated the breached tools in Gaines Township has been decommissioned and won’t be used within the November common election.
“Whereas our elections stay safe and secure, we take severely all violations of election legislation and can proceed to work with the related authorities to guarantee there are penalties for individuals who break the legislation,” Angela Benander stated in an emailed assertion.
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